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Author Note: I do not own Grey's Anatomy or any of its characters or plot lines. I just own my OCs and my original plot lines. I hope you're are enjoying Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This). And, remember if you don't like, don't read, it is as simple as that.
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Intimacy is a four-syllable word for, "Here are my heart and soul."
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Meredith is writing a check to her mother's long-term living home, at the small desk in the study. Meredith puts the check into the already prepped envelope, and sealed it with a quick lick.
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"Please grind them into hamburger and enjoy."
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Eddie Sousa was sipping the orange smoothie she had made for breakfast, one of her newest cravings. She was getting ready for her shift in the hospital which started in an hour. She had made her way to the computer, to check her emails. Nothing.
She had emailed her mother when she'd gotten home and told her about the baby. She didn't know why, maybe some left over guilt, or the thought her mom might finally come around and want a relationship. But, all she had was a return to sender email. Her heart sank slightly at that.
"Don't worry, peanut." Eddie said, she had taken to calling her baby peanut so she wouldn't keep calling her baby an 'it'. "You and I will be okay, won't we. You and me, always."
She tried to push away the disappointment as her phone rang, and the ID said "ELI" on it.
She had found her own family. She had Eli and his mother, she had her intern family: Meredith, Cristina, Izzie, George, and even Alex, and she had her resident Miranda Bailey. They were happy to have her in their lives, and they were all excited about her peanut. Maybe, just maybe, this is what she needed. She didn't need her mom, Step-Stan, or her sisters. She had a found family and her peanut.
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It's both desired and feared,
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George O'Malley was in the shower, a place you'd think is scared, meaning that you'd be alone. But, not in this house. Izzie made her way into the bathroom to brush her teeth.
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Difficult to live with...
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"Uh, excuse me! Excuse me!" George yelled as Izzie brushes her teeth and walks out without even acknowledging George's comment.
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...and impossible to live without.
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George peeked his head out of the shower. And notices his toothbrush is missing.
"Is that my toothbrush?!" George called out to her.
Meanwhile, Meredith is flipping through pictures and stops on one of little girl in wagon, with man and woman standing around it. It was her when she was younger, right outside this very house.
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Intimacy also comes attached to life's three R's: Relatives, romance and roommates.
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Izzie walks into the study wearing her underwear and short t-shirt and brushing her teeth.
"Coffee?" Izzie asked.
In Eddie Sousa's apartment, she was one the phone with her best friend, Eli.
"Are you sure you don't want me there?" Eli asked his best friend for the hundredth time.
Eddie had called Eli when she was in the hospital, and he freaked out (naturally) finding out his best friend was pregnant and had been involved in a collision, which resulted in her receiving a broken arm and a concussion that left her in the hospital overnight. She had talked him out of taking a red-eye to be by her side. He had his first big case, well for a right out of law school lawyer, and she didn't want him to miss it.
All he would have been doing is sitting by her bedside and hanging out with her for maybe a day or two before he'd fly back. She had convinced him to maybe come around Thanksgiving and defiantly when the baby would come. And, when she told his mother, who was practically her mother, she almost flew out herself, and she was wondering how long that would last.
"Yes." Eddie said, "I promise I am fine. My arm won't be in a cast forever, and if you're gonna visit, come around Thanksgiving and then when the baby is here. You need to accrue some vacation hours, not spend them all."
"I know." He said with a sigh. "I just worry about you and my future godchild."
"Well, don't we're fine." Eddie said, "now enough about me, tell me about the guy."
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There are some things you can't escape. And other things you just don't want to know.
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"Hello, kitty." Meredith said as she noticed she came face-to-face with Izzie's Hello Kitty underwear.
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Eddie Sousa parked next to Meredith's jeep as they piled out of it. Seemingly in another intense conversation. As she got out she heard George exclaim: "You don't understand. Me gonads, you ovaries."
"Okay, I came over at the wrong time." Eddie commented. She looked to Meredith and Izzie and asked, "What is going on?"
"Oh, that reminds me. We are out of tampons." Izzie said.
"You're parading through the bathroom in your underwear when I'm naked in the shower." George said looking at Izzie annoyed.
"You walked in on George in the shower?" Eddie asked, suddenly very happy she didn't live at the frat house full time. She did like her privacy. At the hospital was one thing, they had no choice. But, in her own home, Eddie liked her privacy in places like the bathroom or her bedroom.
"Can you add it to your list, please?" Izzie asked George.
"What?!" George asked confused.
"Tampons." Izzie repeated.
"To the list, it's your turn." Meredith reminded her roommate.
"I am a man! I don't buy girl products! I don't want you walking in while I'm in the shower, and I don't want to see you in your underwear." George yelled.
"If you need some I have a few boxes I don't need for a few months obviously." Eddie said gesturing at her belly, which had yet to show, but Eddie defiantly felt it. She looked a bit like she had gained some weight, and she honestly, was slightly excited to look pregnant.
"We'll take 'em, but George, we still need tampons." Meredith informed her male roommate.
"It doesn't bother me, ok? Look at me in my underwear, George. Take your time. It's no big deal." Izzie told George honestly.
Izzie had modeled in her underwear, next to nothing really, all through college and medical school to pay the bills. She was confident in her body, and if she's got it, flaunt it, was her opinion.
"Think of it as them wearing bikinis to the beach, Georgie." Eddie said.
The intern locker room was full of interns getting ready for their pre-rounds. Their residents were giving them prep talks and reminders, just like Miranda Bailey was doing with her interns.
"You are the first person they see in the morning. You say please. You say thank you. You apologize for waking them up." Bailey reminded them.
Alex enters, late and gets a glare from Bailey. Being late, even five minutes, like Alex was, is a big no-no in Bailey's books.
"You make them feel good about you. Why is that important? Cause then they'll talk to you and tell you what's wrong. Why is that important? Because then you can tell you're attending what they need to know during rounds. And why is that important? Because if you make your resident look bad, she'll torture you until you beg for your mama. Now get out there. I want pre-rounds done be 5:30 am." Bailey ordered before she left.
"Morning, Dr. Model." Alex greeted Izzie with a smirk.
"Dr. Evil Spawn." Izzie threw back.
Alex used his pocket light and shines the light on Izzie stomach. "Ooh, nice tat. They airbrush that out for that catalogs?" Alex asked curiously.
"I don't know. What do they do for the 666 on your skull?" Eddie commented getting a laugh from the rest of the interns.
"Ooo..." Alex groaned, "you wound me Eddie-Girl."
Eddie just laughed as she made her way over to Cristina and Meredith.
" I'd better get good patients today. Yesterday I had two guys with colostomies who needed dressing changes every 15 minutes." Meredith complained to Cristina as they changed.
"I'm gonna be in surgery. Today's my day." Cristina informed her friend.
"On what?" Meredith and Eddie asked.
Eddie was nursing another smoothie, orange again, baby really seemed to like orange, which was good since Eddie loved oranges. The only thing was this was about all that Eddie could keep down along with dry toast or crackers. She was now experiencing morning sickness more often. Her doctor said it would resolve itself in a few days if not weeks as she entered her fourteenth week. She hoped he was right and she wasn't one of the unlucky few who was stuck with it for longer into their pregnancy.
"Like I'd tell either you." Cristina said.
"What do you know?" Meredith asked interested.
"I know that I was here at 4:00 and you two didn't get here till 4:30." Cristina said to her two best friends.
"Tell me." Meredith and Eddie said.
"No. I'm not the intern who's screwing an attending."
"I am not screwing an attending." Eddie commented with a pout, "why can't you tell me?"
"Because you're my biggest competition, Girl Genius." Cristina said, "and you're almost every attending's favorite."
Eddie shrugged. She guessed it was true.
"I am not screw..." Meredith started as the three women left the intern locker room. And, Meredith ran straight into Derek.
Cristina and Eddie shared a knowing look and made their way off to rounds while Meredith talked to the handsome attending she had slept with before her internship even started.
"You're here early." Meredith commented.
" I have a cordotomy at 5:00. I'll be out at 6:00. I thought I might buy your breakfast before your rounds." Derek offered.
"I've already eaten." Meredith said, trying to blow off the very handsome attending.
"What'd you have?" Derek asked curiously.
"None of your business." Meredith said.
"You a cereal person? Straight out of the box? Or all fruit and fiber-y?" Derek asked with a laugh. "Pancakes? Do you like pancakes?"
"Fine, leftover grilled cheese. Curiosity satisfied?" Meredith asked.
"That's sad. It's pathetic. A good day starts with a good breakfast." Derek informed her.
"Look, I'm not being seen with you in this hospital. Learn it, live it. It's unprofessional." Meredith informed him.
"I'm just an attending getting to know one of his interns." Derek said, trying to sound professional.
"He slept with the intern." Meredith reminded him.
"Barely knew her." Derek quipped.
"And it should stay that way." Meredith said, she so didn't need the drama of sleeping with her boss, it was messy, but god, did he make it tempting.
"You want me to be professional? I'll be professional." Derek promised.
"That's what I want." Meredith agreed.
"Then that's what you get." Derek said.
"You're gonna be late for your cordotomy." Meredith reminded him.
"Nice talking to you, Dr. Grey." Derek said loudly, trying to sound very professional, but failing.
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It was after pre-rounds, and Bailey's interns were looking for their resident to get their break out for the day.
"There need to be some rules." George said.
"So, what, we can walk around in our underwear on alternate Tuesdays, or you could see bras but not panties? Or are you talking Amish rules? Because if you think you're gonna get Izzie to cover herself" Meredith asked teasingly.
"The amount of flesh exposed is not the point. You have to do something. It's your house." George reminded the older blonde.
"It's my mother's house." Meredith reminded him.
"Meredith." George said.
"Do you like Izzie? Is that what this is about? Do you have a crush on Izzie?" Meredith asked.
Eddie quirked her brow. Really? Even Eddie could tell George liked Meredith. A lot.
"Izzie? No. I don't like Izzie. Izzie, no. She's not the one I'm attracted to." George stammered out.
"Not the one. So, there's a one." Meredith asked interested.
"This is not...Look, there just have to be some rules." George said, changing the subject.
The three interns enter hallway, Bailey is at a desk waiting for them.
"O'Malley, Grey, Sousa, get Karev and head down to Trauma. Shepherd and Quinn needs you."
"Shepherd's in surgery." Meredith said.
"He got pulled before he could start." Bailey informed the intern.
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Alex, Meredith, Eddie, and George stepped out of the elevator, onto the trauma floor, and saw Derek and Conrad looking at a man with what look liked nails coming out of his head. Derek was examining the head wound, while Conrad was going over his vitals and other injuries the man gotten during the fall.
"Those look like..." Meredith started off.
"Nails." Derek finished for her as they looked at the X-ray screen of man with 7 nails in his head was lit up.
"I can't see my hands." The man with nails in his head said.
Causing Eddie to jump, not expecting it.
"Oh my God! He's conscious." George exclaimed.
"Breathe deeply George. You won't pass out." Alex told the male intern.
"Use 4 mg's of morphine. Titrate up to 10. You know what? I don't want him to move." Conrad told the interns and the other doctors scrambling around them.
"I can't see." The man with nails in his head said again freaking out.
"It's ok. We need you to be very still, Mr?" Eddie said.
" Cruz, Jorge Cruz. He tripped and fell down a flight of stairs holding a nail gun." Conrad informed the younger blonde.
"Sick." Alex commented, getting a glare from the two female interns.
"Somehow he managed to miss a blood vessel. That's a minor miracle. Optic nerve's been affected. Can you feel this? Numbness on his right side. What's our immediate concern?" Derek said looking at the interns.
"Infection." Meredith and Eddie answer together.
"Right. I wanna be pulling these nails out in the next half-hour. I need a CT." Derek said.
"CT's are down." Conrad reminded the older doctor.
"What?" Derek asked.
"They exchanged them out last night. Computer's crashed; have them back up by 1:00." Another doctor said.
"So typical. So what are the options?" Derek asked.
"An MRI?" George suggested.
"No!" Derek and Conrad said together.
"Brilliant. The man's got nails in his head. Let's put him in a giant magnet." Alex said sarcastically.
"You want films from three axis points and a C-arm in surgery." Eddie added.
"Excellent! You guys dig up research and find out if this has ever happened before. Go!" Derek said to the three interns.
"You got it." Eddie said, "come on boys, let's go."
"Who put you in charge?" Alex muttered, as Eddie gave him a 'really' look.
Eddie was one of the few people that could coral Alex Karev. It was weird, but the Evil Spawn seemed to care about the pregnant intern. She was one of the few that could get him to do...about anything. Well, she had that way with all the interns in their group. She was the mother of the group. She and Bailey had that in common.
"My wife, my wife, my wife." Jorge said.
"She's on the way." Conrad said.
"Your wife is on the way, Mr. Cruz." Meredith informed him.
"Stay with him, keep him calm and look for changes." Derek ordered Meredith.
"Ohh. I can't see." Jorge repeated.
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Eddie was sipping on her same orange smoothie she had in the intern locker room, and was looking through cases alongside Alex and George.
"Twenty three People have been accidentally shot in the head with nails twenty-three times." George said.
"One was attempted suicide, doesn't count." Eddie said as she took a sip of her smoothie.
"Oh, so he pointed a nail gun at his head on purpose? That makes me feel better." George said, shivering at the thought.
"So, uh, Grey and Stevens really walk around in their underwear?" Alex asked interested.
"Pig." Eddie said as Alex smirked at her as she rolled her eyes.
"Not all the time. I mean, some of the time, you know. But not all the time." George stuttered out an explanation.
"Sexy underwear?" Alex hedged.
"Peanut and I so don't need to hear this." Eddie said, placing her hand on her stomach, as if trying to stop peanut from hearing the conversation.
"Yeah, I mean..." George started.
"And they just, uh, let you look at them?" Alex pressed.
"Well, uh, yeah." George said.
"Like sisters." Alex said.
"My sisters and I never paraded around each other in our underwear." Eddie said. "Or other people."
Step-Stan and her mom would never allow it if it did. They were meant to look presentable at all times. Nothing to look like they weren't the perfect family, or that Eddie didn't embarrass them.
"No, well, not like sisters." George said letting out a nervous laugh. "I don't think of them as sisters."
"But they're not coming on to you." Alex said.
"Not exactly." George said.
"They don't expect you to do anything." Alex continued.
"No. But..."
"Like sisters. Just like sisters." Alex commented.
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Meredith and Jorge's wife, Zona were in the hallway talking about Jorge's chances with the surgery.
"Will he be able to see again?" Zone asked worriedly.
"We won't know until the nails come out." Meredith said honestly, not wanting to give the woman to much hope only for it to be crushed.
"Did he tell you he takes photos? Beautiful photos. It's his hobby. I just got him a new digital camera now he can't stop, you know? He always has it out, always taking pictures of me." Zona said wistfully.
"Jorge said he's been having headaches. Can you tell me about them? Have they been recent?" Meredith asked, needing as much of an in-depth medical history as possible.
"Um, I'm not sure. Maybe the last couple of months." Zona said, trying to remember.
"Have you seen him experience any dizziness or disorientation?" Meredith asked.
"Yes, yes, I have." Zone confirmed with a nod.
"Ok." Meredith said.
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Inside the scrub room of Derek's OR, Meredith and Derek were getting ready to scrub in, while Meredith was informing him of the medical information she had gotten from Jorge's wife.
"Vertiginous or light-headedness?" Derek asked as he scrubbed his hands and arms.
"Light-headed. Sometimes he'd have to brace himself to get out of bed." Meredith replied.
"Could be a million things. Simple orthostasis." Derek said, he stopped when he saw the look on the interns face. "What?"
"What made him fall down the stairs with a nail gun?" Meredith asked.
"He said he tripped. Just because you hear hoof beats, don't assume zebras." Derek said knowingly as they entered the OR.
"Something caused him to lose consciousness and fall down the stairs. He could have a tumor." Meredith theorized.
"Look, I have no idea why this guy's still alive, let alone moving and talking. Not a clue. Let's just get him through this before we start digging around for something else." Derek said as his prep team helped him get ready. One of the nurses, held a phone up to Derek's ear.
"23 cases?" Derek asked the interns on the other end shocked there were so many.
"One was attempted suicide." Alex said.
"Yeah, that doesn't count. Talk about procedure." Derek said.
"Biggest problems were bleeding and infection but the odds improved with shorter surgery times." George said.
"Bottom line was get them out quickly and watch for bleeding." George told the attending.
"I got it. Other words, I'm on my own." Derek said.
"Actually, Dr. Shepherd, I have an idea about that...though I am not sure it'd help." Eddie said into her line.
"Hit me with it Sousa." Derek said.
"What if we removed the nails from the exact angle they entered the skull? That way we'd be avoiding any further damage. So it should be safer." Eddie said.
The older doctor smiled, seeing the potential in the younger intern. "You might be onto something, Sousa. You just earned your chance to scrub in. Get down here as soon as you can."
"Will do!" Eddie said with a grin as the two boys shared a look, both a bit annoyed they weren't asked. But, knew the girl earned it. It was a good idea. And, she was always happy for them when they scrubbed in on a surgery she wanted.
She hung up her phone and said, "I bid you both adieu."
"Bye Sousa." The boys said as Eddie practically skipped out of the research room.
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Inside Jorge's OR room Eddie and Meredith were next to Jorge, listening to him talk about his wife, the love of his life. Eddie smiled softly, she hoped one day she had someone who loved her as much as Jorge loved Zona.
"She had this thing for red when we met. Red car, red dresses, red hats. Personally, I hated the color. Too obvious, you know? But a couple years ago, I took her up to the mountains. She was in a red dress, and there was this field of red poppies, I think. And she jumped out of the car and ran into them and started laughing, laughing at all the red." Jorge said.
"That sounds like a beautiful moment, Mr. Cruz." Eddie said as Jorge grinned.
"It was." He said with a grin.
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About twenty minutes later, the chief was giving the doctors and nurses assisting in the surgery and those watching in the gallery a quick explanation about what was going to happen during today's surgery. It was a packed house, it wasn't everyday you saw nails in someones head and that person still being alive.
"As you can see, the patient has shot seven nails directly into the skull without doing significant damage other than the optic nerve, and we may be able to save that. The idea is to remove the nails at exactly the angle they entered. Any wiggle, and we risk doing more damage than when they went in." Webber said.
Up in the gallery Cristina all but ran into the room and sat down next to George, who had saved her a spot.
"Where are they? Move over." Cristina said.
"They're just pulling them out. Hey, I heard you got a Whipple." George said, excited for Cristina who was wanting in on a surgery for a while now.
"A maybe Whipple. Burke is running my butt off. Oh, man. Look at those films!" Cristina said, highly jealous of Eddie and Meredith, who got to be close up seeing it.
Alex leaned between the two interns and gave an evil laugh before adding, "It's Hellraiser"
Inside the OR things were tense as they carefully removed the first nail.
"Maybe try to an 87." The female resident and neurosurgeon fellow suggested to her boss.
"Small increase then it will stabilize." Another doctor said.
Derek pulls out nail from inside Jorge's head. One down, many more to go.
"Gelfoam." Derek said.
"Here you go."
Up in the gallery, Burke entered and went to Cristina.
"There goes the third grade." Cristina said.
"Dr. Yang, did you put in the blood work?" Dr. Burke asked the intern.
"Oh, right before I got here." Cristina informed the attending.
"Hmm. Take her to Radiology for the MRI. Beep me when you're done." Burke ordered, and when Cristina sighs, he asks, "You want the Whipple, right?"
"Yeah." Cristina said as she got up and left, passing Izzie as she went by.
"Hey."
"Hey." Izzie said before sitting next to George and handed him some money. "Here. My share of the grocery money. When are you going?"
"Tonight." George informed her.
"Ok, seriously, George. Please don't.." Izzie said.
"Yeah, could we not talk about it here?" George asked.
"What, tampons?" Izzie asked, they were doctors for god sake, menstruation is a normal female bodily function.
"Did you not hear a word I said?" George asked his blonde model roommate.
"You're a man. We know." Izzie said rolling her eyes.
"Talk about shrinking the salamander." Alex commented.
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Almost two and a half hours later, Derek was finally finishing up removing all the nails.
"Bleeding?" Derek asked.
"It's clean." A doctor called out.
"All right. Way to go, team. Good job, everybody. Thank you. I don't think we made it worse. The big question is the optic nerve. We'll know in the morning." Derek said.
"Should I order the MRI?" Eddie asked her attending.
"He needs to stabilize. We'll do it tomorrow." Derek informed her.
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Eddie Sousa groaned as she leaned against the cool porcelain toilet as she waited for another round of morning sickness. She had a doctors appointment after work yesterday, and the doctor said there was nothing to worry about the morning sickness, if it got worse, then let her know, but for now, she was riding it out.
She groaned when she heard her cellphone ring. Blindly reaching for it she clicked the answer button and put it to her ear.
"Hello?" She asked.
"Hey it's me." Meredith said, "you okay?"
"Morning sickness." Eddie said, "which is currently kicking my ass. What's up?"
"I was wondering if you could bring those tampons. Apparently George doesn't think he needs to buy them because he is not our sister." Meredith said.
"Ugh, that again. Alex was mocking him yesterday about it. I'll bring 'em." Eddie said.
"Thank you, you're a life saver. Need a ride?" Meredith asked.
"No. I'm good. I'll see you in forty." Eddie said as the two girls hung up their phone.
The moment she did, her morning sickness kicked in, and Eddie groaned.
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An hour and a half later, Eddie and Meredith were waiting for Derek near Jorge Cruz's room.
"Grilled cheese again?" Derek asked the older blonde intern.
"Cold pizza." Meredith answered.
"That is hardly breakfast." Eddie tutted jokingly.
"See Sousa understands!" Derek said to Meredith.
"Well, Eddie's been having orange and banana smoothies for two weeks straight a dry toast for breakfast." Meredith said.
"Again, pregnant. Once I am able to hold something more substantial in the morning that won't make me throw up. I'll let you know." Eddie said.
"Is he awake?" Derek asked the two bickering interns.
"Even better." Meredith said.
"Really? Let's see what his nurse says." Derek said ad the three enter Jorge's room. "Hi, Zona, Jorge. How are you this morning?"
"Tell them what color my dress is, Jorge." Zona insisted.
"I'd know the answer to that even if I couldn't see." Jorge said with a grin.
"Can you tell me what you had for breakfast on Monday?" Derek asked the injured man.
"Cheese omelet. And on Sunday. And on Saturday. And on Friday. Zona gets up every morning and makes me a cheese omelet." Jorge informed them.
"It's the only thing he likes." Zona said.
"It's the only thing you know how to cook." Jorge countered.
"Ok, well, things look good. But I need Jorge to get an MRI this morning to check for residual bleeding. Okay?" Derek asked, before the three doctors left the couple.
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They had found out why, Jorge had fallen and gotten the nails stuck in his head. A tumor. After they finished the MRI they quickly went to Jorge's room to let the couple know.
"Best practice, probably to remove the tumor. "Probably" because I can't get it all. 99%, but not all of it. Radiation and chemo, you're looking at maybe five to ten good years." Derek informed the couple.
"Let's do it." Jorge said quickly.
"You haven't heard the downside. See, the tumor is located in a part of your brain where your memory and your personality resides. And because of the fuzzy edges of this type of tumor, I have to cut out a lot. Jorge, you stand a good chance of losing your memories. Of losing who you are." Derek informed the man.
"Is there any other way?" Zona asked worriedly.
"The alternative is gamma or cyberknife treatment with focus radiation. It's less evasive. There's little chance of memory loss or him losing himself but it would only give Jorge maybe three to five years." Derek informed them.
"Three to five years?" Zona asked, her voice filled with tears.
"This is an incredibly difficult decision. If you have any more questions or you need to talk to me, I'm here, ok?" Derek offered.
It was an impossible decision. Either way Jorge's prognosis wasn't good. Either he got the surgery, loose his memory, and spend five to ten years with his wife, possibly never even remembering her. Or he'd do the cyberknife treatment, keep his memories, but have much less time to live his life.
Eddie wouldn't know what she'd do in his position. It was a horrible one to be in.
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"The woman's life was this hospital. It was her home. It's a sweet thing for them to do." Izzie informed Cristina as they sat outside Seattle Grace Hospital.
"It's a waste of a bed, and it's a waste of my time." Cristina said crabby as she laid on the bench.
"Who are we talking about?" Eddie asked as she and Meredith joined them.
"Liz Fallon. They brought her here to die." Cristina informed the pair.
"Wouldn't you want them to do the same thing for you?" Izzie asked Cristina.
"No! You know what, I'd want the doctors to do everything they could. I'd want them to cut me open until the minute I die." Cristina informed the blonde.
"Sometimes doing everything can be worse than doing nothing." Meredith commented as Eddie nodded.
Cristina, flipping through Seattle magazine, casually told Izzie, who had been stressing over what to do about a patient who had been freaking out because she was his doctor after seeing her modeling some underwear in a magazine. "You are eight feet tall. Your boobs are perfect. Your hair is down to there. If I were you I'd walk around naked all the time. I wouldn't, I wouldn't have a job. I wouldn't have skills. I wouldn't even know how to read. I'd just be naked."
"It's makeup. It's retouching." Izzie said.
"You get that we hate you, right?" Cristina asked.
Izzie's pager beeps, "Bailey again."
"You know what, any patient who spanks to his doctor's pictures forfeits his rights. You're seriously not gonna give up the prostatectomy, are you? Izzie? Oh forget it. You know, sometimes it is actually, you know, painful to be around you." Cristina commented as Izzie sauntered away.
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"Jorge and Zona want the surgery." Derek informed the two interns as he exited Jorge's room.
"They want you to cut it out?" Meredith asked shocked.
She couldn't help but think of her mother. How she would rather have her remember her and live a shorter amount of time, than having to watch her loose herself slowly, piece by piece and whither away in front of her.
"Mm-hmm. It's their decision." Derek said, before walking away, leaving the two blondes alone.
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Eddie found Meredith a little while after her blow up outside the hospital. Eddie sat down next to her, and looked at her with concern.
"What is going on Mer? And, like a wise woman once told me, before you give me some crap about being fine, I know you haven't been." Eddie said. "This case really got to you huh? Do you want to talk about it?" Eddie asked.
Meredith looked at the blonde for a long moment before she started rambling. "Okay, I am only telling you this, because I feel like I can trust you. My mother, she has early onset Alzheimer's Disease. And, I am the only one that knows. She doesn't want anyone else to, and she basically forced me to keep it a secret. She is in a nursing home and...that is why I over reacted."
"Oh." Eddie said. "I am so sorry, Mer. No one should ever have to go through that."
Meredith shrugged.
"It's my cross to bear." Meredith said.
"Not alone anymore. If you need someone to vent to, I'm here for you." Eddie said, "even if I just watch you drink and drive you home after you visit her."
Meredith laughed as the two girls sat and watched the rain fall.
"Do you want company, or would you rather be alone?" Eddie asked.
"I think some company would be great."
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I wish there were a rulebook for intimacy. Some kind of a guide that could tell you when you've crossed the line. It would be nice if you could see it coming. And I don't know how you fit it on a map. You take it where you can get it....and keep it as long as you can. And as for rules. Maybe the rules of intimacy are something you have to define for yourself.
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